What to do

The situation is unfortunate, not unheard of, but beyond parental control. There are exceptions where the coaches kid earns playing time. Daddyball above little league generally has a negative effect on team chemistry, but there is little recourse but to move on.

Have your son do what he has to improve and let the politics go.
Being in the line up in HS and college is all about your bat first position second.

The way I see it, yor son made the team without even trying out, that doesn't happen often. He now has to prove himself that he was worthy of being on the team without a tryout.

You should stay completely out of it, your son is already handling it on his own. Have him play on a strong summer and fall team and get noticed.
Last night at a college game, a starter from last year is now a pinch hitter. While both may play the position the same, transfer came in hitting 325 now has the position.

TPM and Dad04 both have given you solid advice. Your son needs to control the things he can and ignore the things he cannot. In the end talent will win out.
Fungo

Solid advise from parents that have peobably never been on the recieving end of a situation like this. It's not as black and white as some might think or want others to believe...or dare to advise. Every player lives his own situation and every parent watches with baited breathe. Life is not fair all the time,some kids for some reason end up with the harder road. It is tough to understand when players of lesser or equal talent get the breaks--while others trudge along with no break in the clouds to speak of. I have to hope and pray that it is only to prepare them for when they do get that chance. Keep your heads up---both you and your son. Stay focused and keep movng forward no matter what the obstacle---Never let them break you or take away the love of the game...then they win, and no one ever wants the bad guys to win.

Thank you all for all of the advice. My wife and I are reading all of oyur coments and taking in everything. Od. I have watched so many people go trough this...never ever thought of the frustration they mu've been feeling...

quote:

Originally posted by Bob Sanders:
Solid advise from parents that have peobably never been on the recieving end of a situation like this.

Since I responded to this post, I am asking how would you know that son has never been on the same receiving end? If he never was, I most likely would never post here.
I am going to go out on a limb and say that I feel mine was the best at his position, best hitter, best fielder in HS. He wasn't given the chances half of them were, he sat through the BS, the older players before him, coaches sons, blah, blah, every thing posted here and etc. He said screw it and found a top HS travel team for summer/fall to get him noticed, if he relied on HS baseball who knows where he would be.

After being denied for two years at bats or playing position other than a pitcher with limited role as a sohmore or junior, he proved them all wrong by leading team senior year in HR, batting and ERA. He asked once if he could contribute more, they said no, we never THOUGHT to ask. Maybe that's the difference here, most of our son's have gone through it at some point but survived and went on to play greater roles later on, we just never got involved because it's not our place to tell a coach how to run a team. JMO.
Work on what you can control and what you can't, period.
The poster asked if they should speak to the coach, my answer is no.

The advice to ignore the politics is good. In fact, parents getting involved is a no win approach. If bias is impacting the choice of who to start, calling attention to it is likely to only strengthen the bias.

Sounds like your son is handling it correctly. However, here are a couple of concepts for you to consider which may help you as parents be more comfortable with the situation.

You spent a few sentences describing your son's plate appearances in the last game. But that's not how coaches judge a player's hitting capability. They take a longer view incorporating the stroke the player shows in practice, and they are typically more interested in the quality of his stroke, and whether he hits the ball hard, rather than if did or didn't score a hit on a ball he put into play. So the coach is working from a different set of information than you are.

For fielding, coaches of course would prefer no errors. But they tend to judge a player's talent on the plays he does make rather than the ones he doesn't make. Even a very talented SS will make errors. But a lesser talented player will never be capable of making the really good plays.

I have no way to tell if bias is impacting your son's playing time. But when you posted about your son's plate appearences, and a rival player's error tally, it does tell me that you and the coach are working from different information, and a different method of evaluating talent. That may (or not) help to explain your son's situation.

If you have not been through some sort of bs just keep playing because sooner or later you will. Some have to face it earlier and more often. Some face it later in their career. Its all part of the game and its part of life. Its never perfect and its never completely fair. My response to things like this has always been "Deal with it. Fight through it. If you love the game the game will love you back." You might not get it in the time frame you want it. You might not get it in the way you want it. But if you stay positive and battle you will come out of it a winner.

When parents get in the middle of the fight the player does not learn to fight he learns to rely on others to do his fighting. I know its very frustrating to see your son done in a way you do not believe is fair. I know that the natural response is to get in there and make it all right for him. But at some point and time the only person that can make it right is the player himself. You offer advice and you stay positive. jmho

quote:

Originally posted by oprwiz:
This time, he was told that his bat was struggling and he needs to improve his hitting. He has started to concentrate more on it yesterday. He is visibly upset. My wife and I tell him to work hard. However, there is more to this. You see, the new coach’s son plays second base. His backup is now the starting SS and he only has 1 hit in 7 AB. There is now no backup for second and they both play all game. With as many as 5 errors in the 2 games between both, we tend to believe something more is going on. My wife and I believe that the AAU team will help provide more opportunity for him to play college baseball but still wonder if this will hurt him. Please advise. Do we continue to stay out of it or do we talk to the coach. If we talk to the coach…what do you say???

First of all, how does the fact that the coach's son is starting at 2nd base affect your son's status as SS or 3rd baseman? If your son is the best SS, why would the coach sacrafice his team to start someone else who is not even his son? I don't get it. Is the starting SS the son of a school employee, booster club president, financial supporter, concession stand operator, mayor, congressman, senator, etc, etc, etc? Must be something other than the kid is a better player.

Sounds like another case of parents playing the political card to justify reason son is not starting. Parents' total focus is on their own son, rather than the entire team, constantly looking for failure in the starting players, just to justify in their own minds that their son should be starting. They totally disregard the coaches' opinions of who are the best players for their team.

How do the parents of the starting shortstop feel? That your son is the better player, and their son is receiving some kind of political favor? If your son suddenly gets the starting SS position, how long will it take for the other kid's parents to get on here and start complaining about getting the political shaft? Whose job is it to determine who should be starting? Who is more qualified to judge talent OBJECTIVELY, the coaches or the parents?

One more thing, why did your son wait until "yesterday" to concentrate on his hitting? What about working on it during the offseason? He waits until the coach says something about his weakness at the plate, then decides to concentrate on it? What was he doing before? Where is the politics in this? How about admitting that maybe, just maybe, your son is not the best shortstop right now.

Knighttime,
Thank you for your response. My son is hiting the ball.ust not ou of the park...baseunning errors and a lack of opportunity of AB' have kept him down. I don't have o spek to my sons talent. Most prents on the team are questioning this situation. A I said before, he was starting without even trying out. He played all winter long, the aau team he plays for owns an indoor facility with indoor field. The rival players only comes in because we know his batting avg is only slightly better than our sons...now...but he has also had more opportunity with more AB's...maybe the coach showing more 'faith' in the rival is helping him as much as the lack is hindering our sons. I only wanted o know if I should step in. Sounds like I shouldn't. I never had to before.. however, I alo thought Daddyball ended before H.S...

quote:

however, I alo thought Daddyball ended before H.S...

As long as coaches and players have children, daddyball and political lineups will live on, at all levels.

Those same parents that tell you what you want to hear when they are talking to you , guess what they are saying when they are talking to the other parents when you are not around?

The decisions that are made on who plays have nothing to do with what the parents think. What they did in AAU or prior to hs has nothing to do with who plays in hs. If it did that would indeed be daddy ball.

Let your son go out and earn his time. When you focus on what others are doing you are not putting all your focus on what you are doing. When discussing your sons situation it is never a good thing to put down other peoples kids. In fact it is flat out wrong to put down other players.

I have sat in the stands during the summer and fall watching my son for several years. No parent ever walks up to another parent and says "You know the coach is doing the right thing not playing your son. He is not the best option in the line up." It usually goes like this "I dont understand why your boy is not playing today." Then they walk over to the kids parents that is playing and say "Boy its about time your boy was in the line up , good move by the coach."


What the other parents think has no bearing on your sons situation at all. The only thing that matters is what the coaches think are the best options on the field. The player should focus on being the best option. Not putting down the other players that are playing in front of him.

Its the players responsibility to earn his playing time. Its the players responsibility to make the coach feel he is the best option. If your waiting and hoping for the other guys to fail so you can get a shot that is not being a good team mate and that is the wrong mind set for many reasons. Go out and outplay your team mates in practice and when you do get a shot produce. Other than that leave it alone and just play the game.

Well...our son is at practice. My wife and I have had time to talk...read the posts...thank for all of the advice. We've never had to jump in before. The reponse has been what we've alway known...just let it work out. Enjoy the game... have fun.. I guess we had just hoped things would start better than they have. He has worked so hard the past 5 - 6 months....we just got caught up..but he'll get back to where he was. we'll just back him no matter what. Thanks

Do parents really think a coach will start playing their child when they "talk" to the coach? Has any coach EVER put a kid in the starting line up after "talking" to the parent? If that is the case then what happens when all the parents start having the "talk" with the coach? You can only play 9.

I lose some respect for you when you talk about the starting shortstop as your son's "rival". He is not his rival but his teammate. They wear the same uniform, go to the same school, go to the same practices, do the same conditioning and play the same schedule. They are not rivals but they are teammates. They should be working together to make the team better. That is what is important here.

We only have your stats to determine what is going on and stats are very misleading when you want them to be. You talk about a player making errors but what kind of range does this kid have? This kid might be getting to balls that the other players cannot even come close to. When that happens you are going to have more opportunities to make plays and that will lead to more errors. Kid A may have 5 errors while Kid B only has 2 but Kid A's range allows him to have many more chances than Kid B.

quote:

The first AB, man on second, he hit a line drive up the middle and the runner was thrown out at third.

How is this possible? The only player with ANY chance to make a play on this ball and throw out a runner going to third is the pitcher. So did he hit a groundball the pitcher fielded and got a runner on second who did a poor job OR did the runner stand there and watch the ball until the CF caught the ball and threw him out OR is this the slowest runner in the history of baseball? It doesn't really add up.

Another thing that doesn't add up is his other at bat you mention.

quote:

The second at bat, he went 0-2, then 3-2 and had 9 pitches before the man on first was caught stealing second.

So did your son strike out, draw a base on ball or get a hit? That is a great at bat if he saw 9 pitches but what does it have to do with the runner getting thrown out at second? With what you put there is no way the at bat is ended because the runner is thrown out. If he has a full count and sees 4 more pitches then the only way the at bat continues is on a foul ball out of play. A foul tip into the catcher's mitt is a strike out and he obviously didn't walk because if the 10th pitch is a ball then the runner isn't thrown out since he is forced to move up on the base on ball.

Maybe this new coach thought it was a travesty your son made the team without trying out. Not saying that is right but maybe when he was the asst. coach and the head coach put your son on the team maybe that just irritated him.

There is a lot more to this story than you are putting.

Coach

Great post---very well said !!!

quote:

Originally posted by coach2709:


I lose some respect for you when you talk about the starting shortstop as your son's "rival". He is not his rival but his teammate. They wear the same uniform, go to the same school, go to the same practices, do the same conditioning and play the same schedule. They are not rivals but they are teammates. They should be working together to make the team better. That is what is important here.

I agree 100%.
Just went through this recently, a parent coming on about playing time and discrediting a teammate, who may or may not be better. I don't care if it is done unanonomously. That player is your son's teammate.
Parents usually see things differently though, most players are happy for their teammates who won the spot over them, then you have to work harder to take over his spot, that's how it's done. If there are hard feelings they put it aside, you can't exist on a team and be successful as an individual or group if you can't put it aside, or you have mom or dad telling you that you ARE better.

quote:

Originally posted by oprwiz:
Knighttime,
My son is hiting the ball.ust not ou of the park...baseunning errors and a lack of opportunity of AB' have kept him down.

I don't know how many times I've heard this from parents. "Lack of opportunity and at bats have kept my son from showing you what talent he really has." Sorry, but coaches see your kid every day in practice and know what players they want in the lineup to give their team the best opportunity to compete. That is all that matters. If your son has some kind of hidden talent, he better show it when he has opportunities, big or small.

quote:

The rival players only comes in because we know his batting avg is only slightly better than our sons...now...but he has also had more opportunity with more AB's...maybe the coach showing more 'faith' in the rival is helping him as much as the lack is hindering our sons.

Since when are your son's teammates his "rivals?" That is a horrible thing to say about the other players. They are in this together, hence the name TEAM. It's not about your son! The other players are not his rivals!

quote:

I alo thought Daddyball ended before H.S...

How good would the coach's son have to be before you quit crying "Daddyball?" I'm sure in your mind, the coach's kid could never legitimately earn his way into the lineup. That poor kid will never stand a chance in the parents' eyes, not matter how well he plays. I still don't see how the "daddyball" claim affects your son anyway. They don't even play the same position. Makes absolutely no sense.

quote:

As a freshman, my son made only 1 of 3 try-outs and was selected to the freshman team. By the 3 game of the season, he was moved to Jv to play SS. The following year, he wasn’t able to try out because he went snowboarding and broke his left collar bone. Without making a try-out, he was selected to Jv, due to weather, the season was delayed and he recovered quick enough to make the first game as SS. At the end of the year, he was moved to Varsity as a backup SS. During the winter

how do you think the other kids felt who made all the tryouts? did you or your son talk to the coach and tell him how unfair this was ?


you play the hand that's dealt you.fair or unfair that's life in the big city.

This is an idea of what MLB scouts look for in a prospect.

I am sure many HS and college coaches use this as a guideline to place players in positions and to why some play and some sub.

Maybe this will help some folks.

Catcher-Fielding-Arm-Hitting-Power-Speed
Shortstop-Fielding-Arm-Hitting-Speed-Power
Second base-Hitting-Fielding-Power-Speed-Arm
Center field-Fielding-Hitting-Speed-Power-Arm
Third base-Hitting-Power-Fielding-Arm-Speed
Right field-Hitting-Power-Arm-Fielding-Speed
Left field-Hitting-Power-Fielding-Arm-Speed
First base-Hitting-Power-Fielding-Arm-Speed

Stay out of it !!!!

Let him fight his battles if it is really a battle


There are only 9 spots in the starting lineup and baseball is a team game

At the high school level, if you hit, you will play no matter who the coach is. Players of similar abilities are seperated by who can hit...TPM is right on the money here. My son is a varsity starter because he can handle the bat. Yes, he's a solid outfielder but so are other players on his team and he had to pay his dues to earn his spot which didn't come easy and he did it on his own without outside influence or politics.

A coach worth his salt will never sit a good stick.


The negative points about the other players such as the 5 errors between both or the 1 of 7 in hitting are usually brought up in these situations but lack the details on these errors such as tough plays or those 6 outs made whether they were long hard hit balls, productive outs which moved runners etc.. as opposed to lazy infield grounders or striking out looking lost at the plate or not doing the job in a hitting situation where the minimum job is to move runners.

Maybe the kid needs to improve with the bat? Does his hitting stand out?

And the kid has to deal with the coach on his own. He can certainly seek advise but he's got to be the one to talk with his coaches.

Hello;

Fortunately our American players and parents do not play high school baseball in Korea.

In 1988, our American team played the Korean National Team in Osaka, Japan. The RF #4 hitter allowed a ground ball to skip pass him in RF. He was immediately removed from the game. Later there was a passed ball by the catcher. A new catcher immediately placed the mask and shin guards left at home plate by the 1st catcher.

I asked the group leader, Mr Kim [his brother later became President of Korea] "how many catchers do you have"? He said all 18 National team players will catch if requested.

Several years later while coaching at SSU in the fall. If a hitter did not advanced a runner from 2b with less than two outs, I removed from the game.

Believe me each hitter after this advanced the runner with a hard ground ball to the right side.

"This is International Baseball"

Bob Williams

orpwiz,

quote:

we just got caught up..but he'll get back to where he was. we'll just back him no matter what.

YES!!! Thats the idea.
Encourage him.
Assure him that he can get over this hurdle.
Dont fuel the " player has been wronged, for whatever reason " fire because it doesnt lead to a solution.
9 times out of 10 the players themselves are much better at handling adversity than we know.
If your son shows signs of frustration, assure him he is not the first player that this has happened to.
Tell him to listen to his coach and to improve in the areas that the coach tells him to work on.
Its going to take sweat and a lot more sweat.

Anyone who has watched or lived with a player who is battling for a spot knows how much it takes out of them. ( Extra milkshakes are a plus!..and will usually be greatly appreciated by the player,..unless they are lactose intolerant or just plumb craaaaazy! )

You will watch your son grow during this process and be ready to watch him work through it,... its amazing how they " get it " so much earlier than we the parents do.
Sometimes it also helps to take a step back,...watch from a little farther away. This helps to put things into perspective a little better, although its not always easy to do.

Again,..encourage your son. There are going to be lots of bumps in the road ahead,....just take each one a breath at a time and watch the process.
Best of luck to all of you!.....let us know how things transpire.

Now get off your fannies and get to the grocery store,..the boy is going to be HUNGRY!

I couldn't help but laugh when I read the posts about how the other parents talk about another's son dealing with an injustice at starting but how it changes when you are alone with them and it's your son starting!

I remember last year when my son (at the time a junior) won the starting 3B spot over a Senior that apparently was suppose to be the starter. First game of the season another Dad from one of the starters last year starts hollering, "Where's Waldo, why isn't he on 3B?!" Most could hear it...and so did my wife who just happen to be sitting there and calmly replied, "I believe he's over on the bench".

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
This is an idea of what MLB scouts look for in a prospect.

I am sure many HS and college coaches use this as a guideline to place players in positions and to why some play and some sub.

Maybe this will help some folks.

Catcher-Fielding-Arm-Hitting-Power-Speed
Shortstop-Fielding-Arm-Hitting-Speed-Power
Second base-Hitting-Fielding-Power-Speed-Arm
Center field-Fielding-Hitting-Speed-Power-Arm
Third base-Hitting-Power-Fielding-Arm-Speed
Right field-Hitting-Power-Arm-Fielding-Speed
Left field-Hitting-Power-Fielding-Arm-Speed
First base-Hitting-Power-Fielding-Arm-Speed

Hey TPM ... what about the PITCHERS ???

quote:

Originally posted by shortstopmom:
Anyone who has watched or lived with a player who is battling for a spot knows how much it takes out of them. ( Extra milkshakes are a plus!..and will usually be greatly appreciated by the player,..unless they are lactose intolerant or just plumb craaaaazy! )

Personally at our house, it was extra COOKIES but I had to tell my son all the good ones were in Kansas ...

This scenario can change based on what the other players on your team bring to the table. Remember this is hs baseball. Your best hitter could be your 2b. You may not have power on the corners. In college or pro you can ensure that your corner guys are power guys. In hs it is what it is. You can not go out and recruit different players to fill roles. You have to take what you have and put them in the right places to give your team the best chance to succeed. Your back up 2b may be the best option in left field. You may have to put a lesser defensive player in left field because he adds some pop to your line up. Im big on being strong up the middle. Catcher , SS , 2B and CF must be strong defensively. So Im going to put my best outfielder in CF regardless of his ability to hit. The same will be said for the other middle posistions. If they are not good hitters then I have to sacrifice some defense at the other posistions to get some offense in my line up. So what Im trying to say is in hs the line up will vary based on what the guys you have bring to the table.

Sometimes a kid will not be in the line up because what he brings to the table is not what is needed most by the team. Sometimes he is in the line up because what he brings is exactly what the team needs. The best way to ensure you are in the line up is to bring defense and offense to the table. Otherwise you leave yourself open for those late night discussions by the coaching staff.

Thanks Coach May for your explanation. I thought it also helpful for parents so see what may or may not be needed for after HS.
And lately within discussions here parents here talk about their son sitting while someone else is playing who is NOT performing (as to their interpretation). Or, their son was supposed to play such ans such position but someone else got it. Most of teh time it politics is mentioned, but maybe it's not always about politics. I don't get it myself sometimes.

FBM,
LOL, didn't want to make it too complicated.

I am not sure why people come and post what their sons did in games in the last 3-4 at bat or innings pitched. Or what they batted a year ago or what they pitched in HS while in college. It serves no purpose. It's what you did today and what you will do tomorrow that counts in baseball. JMO.

oprwiz,

I am sure your son with your advice work hard and then things will either improve or stay the same. The best advice I have seen given to you is do not talk to the coach. Here is a example of what could happen - on son's team (V) a player on the team through seven games only saw one inning and one at bat. Dad after the 7th game approached the coach and asked why son isn't getting more playing time. Next day at practice coach gathers the team around him and tells them they are men and if they have issues about the team they need to approach him and not their parents. Funny thing is that the kid had no problem with his playing time. Needless to say the kid has not seen the field since the dad spoke to the coach.

Another example. Same team and player does not see the field for the first 9 games. He is frustrated. His mom is very upset. Neither say anything to anybody they simply deal with it. Team goes to a Easter tournament. Player gets his chance and goes 4 for 8. He has started every game since. At this last Fridays game he hit his first homerun of the year. Oh yeah it was a grand slam.

Two different ways to deal with a precieved injustice. And two different results.

Don't talk to the coach and good luck to your son.

quote:

Player gets his chance and goes 4 for 8. He has started every game since. At this last Fridays game he hit his first homerun of the year. Oh yeah it was a grand slam.

That's the way it works.

In BB you have to make omelets out of broken eggs. In a similar situation you described I advised my son to take advantage of the time he was on the team to improve his skills. He also was confronted with similar conditions, more as a fill-in player instead of being regular in the lineup because of circumstances beyond his control. He found he could use the time on that team to prepare for playing on a summer league baseball program.

My son came to prefer summer BB and used the Spring to get ready for the Summer BB travel teams. He always chose to play on two teams during the summer and to this day still prefers summer BB to the Spring season. He uses the Spring season to work on a variety of skills. As a pitcher this allows him to set skill oriented goals where he doesn't concern himself with when he gets to play because that is not his primary concern.

IMO your son could concentrate on the AAU baseball and still achieve a higher level of achievement. After all it is much better baseball then JV or hs varsity ball.
JMO

quote:

If we talk to the coach…what do you say???

You don't talk to the coach. You have your young adult son talk to the coach. He should ask the coach what he can do to earn a starting position on the field and help the team. There are nine positions. All but pitcher and catcher take minimal training to get by until the player can work hard enough to excel. Any postion on the field is better than the best position on the bench.

quote:

the aau team he plays for owns an indoor facility with indoor field

Did your son play for the 15U ASBA team last summer?

quote:

Originally posted by FutureBack.Mom:

quote:

Originally posted by shortstopmom:
Anyone who has watched or lived with a player who is battling for a spot knows how much it takes out of them. ( Extra milkshakes are a plus!..and will usually be greatly appreciated by the player,..unless they are lactose intolerant or just plumb craaaaazy! )

Personally at our house, it was extra COOKIES but I had to tell my son all the good ones were in Kansas ...

If things don't work out there's always Lifesavers.

O.K., guys, I think we can all stop piling on oprwiz. He's already indicated he WON'T talk to the coach. He sought our advise, we properly admonished him, so how about a little love?

Oprwiz, politics exist in H.S. baseball. No doubt. But the hurt feeling from these politics should be borne by the parents on behalf of their child. What I mean by this is please, absorb the disappointment yourself but do not convey this to your player. Instead, let him turn adversity into motivation: "Gee, I guess the coach doesn't think I'm good enough, so I need to work harder." The last thing you want to do is make him think he is a victim, regardless of the truth.

Find your son the best Summer team possible, and keep at it. Resolve to come back twice as good as any other player on the team next year, so the coach has no way to deny his talent. As a shortstop, particularly work on his foot speed and arm strength.

Remember, in the end if your son's ultimate goal is to move onto the next level (college) playing time in high school and high school statistics do not amount to a hill of beans. What matters is present ability, something one either has or does not have and is not dependent upon whom you know. Keep working at the game.

Wow..Bum..Thanks for the cover...Shortstopmon and TRhit. Thanks for te advice. I was really waiting to hear from you. When I started the post, I thought I was open to some blows. I tried to keep everything brief and still get my main question out...but provide enough detail to get a fair assesment. But...on this topic...the post should've...parents involvement..yes or no...as simple as that. I know their is alot of genuine concern in the replies...and a lot of love...more like prison love...but I guess love...nonetheless.. Thanks for the advice.

Oprwiz, as a fellow hs baseball parent, I wholeheartedly sympathize. Regardless of the circumstances, it is no fun to have your son yanked from his starting position.

In your son's situation, politics may be involved, but since there's nothing you can do about that, I hope you'll stop thinking about it and realize that there may be other factors at play that are within your son's control. As a parent, you are able to evaluate only what happens on the field at games, but the coach sees the players' ability on a daily basis at practice. He may have observed that the current starting SS is excelling in certain areas that your son is not. It could be general fielding, ability to make difficult plays, arm strength, ability to bunt well, ability to hit or hit for power, or speed. The current starter may seem more confident or may be hustling more at practice. Maybe he has a better attitude or gets less rattled during 0-2 hitting drills. The possibilities are endless.

In one of your posts, you commented, "The rival players only comes in because we know his batting avg is only slightly better than our sons." If your son is basically neck-and-neck with his competition, his job right now is to make sure he significantly outshines his rival in every area possible. That may involve working harder than he ever imagined.

Here's the good news: this too shall pass. Based on what you've shared, I feel fairly confident that your son will get to play sometime in the future -- somewhere, somehow. Meanwhile, he has the opportunity to develop a strong work ethic, perseverance, patience, and mental toughness.

This is great preparation for college baseball. Those players who had everything dropped in their laps in high school will have a rude awakening when they arrive at college and realize that every teammate is at least as good as they are -- if not a whole lot better. They may not have developed a strong work ethic in high school and, in the end, may find that they are the ones sitting on the bench.

The players who had to deal with adversity in high school may be much better prepared in the long run to deal with the challenges that college baseball has to offer. In the end, you and your son may be thanking your lucky stars for the very things you are frustrated about right now.

Please keep us posted on how things progress. Best wishes!

Oprwiz,

Hang in there, don't(I repeat don't) talk to the coach but continue to have your son play AAU ball. That is where he will best be able to be seen by the right people.

This is your first post, so try not to be put off by any negative comments here and concentrate on the ones that are helpful. This website is filled with threads where newcomers get solid advice mixed in with too many insults. But I can tell you from plenty of experience that if your gut tells you that your son is getting the shaft, he probably is.

Politics run amuck at the H.S. level and too many coaches play favorites with little regard to the final score. The idea that H.S. coaches only care about putting the best players on the field so his team has the best chance of winning is a comical one to all of us parents who have seen H.S. politics in full bloom.

I'm not saying that coaches who play sons or sons of key volunteers don't care about winning. I'm just saying that they coach to win within the parameters of playing the less talented kid or kids and will accept whatever negatives come from playing these kids.


Good Luck to you and your son!

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quote:

Originally posted by Infield08:

....his job right now is to make sure he significantly outshines his rival in every area possible. That may involve working harder than he ever imagined.

Here's the good news: this too shall pass. Based on what you've shared, I feel fairly confident that your son will get to play sometime in the future -- somewhere, somehow. Meanwhile, he has the opportunity to develop a strong work ethic, perseverance, patience, and mental toughness.

This is great preparation for college baseball. Those players who had everything dropped in their laps in high school will have a rude awakening when they arrive at college and realize that every teammate is at least as good as they are -- if not a whole lot better. They may not have developed a strong work ethic in high school and, in the end, may find that they are the ones sitting on the bench.

The players who had to deal with adversity in high school may be much better prepared in the long run to deal with the challenges that college baseball has to offer. In the end, you and your son may be thanking your lucky stars for the very things you are frustrated about right now....

This is really outstanding stuff....

...required reading for parents and players.


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